Gun Control

First I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the families affected by the senseless act committed last Friday. I am truly sorry that our nation can't just mourn with you, instead people are using your loss as a platform for their political views.

Alas, gun control laws have been brought up, so we must discuss and decide where we stand. I will start by saying I am against gun control and here are my reasons:

1) Banning anything Americans have wanted hasn't worked. Banning alcohol was a huge failure, the war on drugs doesn't appear to be a huge success either (by the way, I'm not bashing the men and women who fight drugs on a daily basis, I'm just pointing out that Americans will get what they want illegal or not). The future I see, if guns are banned, is one where criminals are still accessing weapons and their potential victims are even more at risk then they were when they could at least defend their home and self. Have you ever heard the term don't bring a knife to a gun fight? There's a reason it's around.

2) People have been killing each other since the dawn of time, way before guns were invented, and humans will continue to kill each other if guns are banned. Here's the secret, it's not the guns killing, it's the humans using whatever tool they can get their hands on. Mexicans are using chain saws to kill, shall we ban those as well?

3) I've heard the argument that guns allow criminals to kill at greater number of people at one time. So do bombs, which are illegal but still used.

4) Then there's the idea of a "test" for gun ownership. What questions would be on a test to determine if someone should own a gun or not? Honestly think about that, what mass produced test could determine if someone is going to use their gun illegally? Mass produced tests allow people to drive that get in wrecks daily, or drug tests that criminals cheat.

5) A branch of the above thought is the recent gunmen used stolen guns, either from family or friends families, whose to say the person  that owned the stolen gun wouldn't have passed the test and still been allowed to own the gun legally?

6) I don't claim to be a historian but haven't other countries banned guns to the detriment of the unarmed citizens?

I agree something needs to change, but I'm not on the gun control bandwagon. What has recently changed in society that may have led to this increase in mass killings? Could it have been the breakdown of the family unit? Lack of accountability for oneself (we've all seen the cartoon depicting a student 20 years ago catching hell from the teacher and parents next to the same picture of a current student where the teacher is getting blamed for the student's behavior)? Maybe lack of discipline in households today? The increase in single parent homes? I don't know the answer but I don't think gun are the culprit.